ABSTRACT
Good archaeological theory demands a conjunction of methods, conjoined on a rational basis of good logic. While the Society for Historical Archaeology avoided imposing limitation on itself in open meeting, a number of its more vocal members have made statements which are as self-limiting and self destructive as those initially proposed at the Dallas meeting. To define historic sites archaeology as “a technique of history” or as a separate field of study to itself is to actually limit the extent of its importance. The argument can also be entered from the point of view that historic sites archaeology is fundamentally different from other types of archaeology and should therefore be constituted as a distinct discipline. Historic sites archaeology involves a distinctive kind of site, develops a distinctive approach, both in field techniques and manner of interpretation, and produces characteristic conclusions and results.
